Report of Maj. Gen. John
Gibbon, U.S. Army, Commanding Second Division MAY 4 - JUNE 12,
1864--Campaign from the Rapidan to the James River

HDQRS. SECOND DIVISION, SECOND ARMY CORPS,November 7, 1864.

Maj. S. CARNCROSS, Assistant Adjutant-General, Second Army Corps.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit the
following report of the operations of this division since the 3d of May last. This report
has been unavoidably delayed until the present time, and even now has to be forwarded
without many of the sub-reports which should accompany it:

THE WILDERNESS, FROM MAY 3 TO MAY 8, 1864.

Leaving camp near Stevensburg on the
night of the 3d, the division reached Todd's Tavern on the morning of the 5th, from whence
it was recalled and marched with the rest of the corps up the Brock road. About 5 p.m. we
reached the scene of the battle. Carroll was pushed forward and directed to report to
Major-General Birney, near the plank road. As the head of Webb s brigade came in sight of
the firing, the enemy was close to the Brock road, firing rapidly upon our disordered
troops. We were marching left in front, but there was no time to change the formation. The
file closers were shifted to the right flank, and as the leading regiments came up they
were faced to the left, and by their fire soon drove the enemy back, took
possession of the road, and held it. As Owen's brigade arrived upon the ground it was
posted on Webb's right. The day closed with heavy skirmishing. By order of Major-General
Hancock, I was on the 6th placed in command of the left of the army, composed of General
Barlow's division and my own. During the 6th all of the brigades of the division were more
or less detached from my command to aid in the attack on the enemy's position, and for the
particulars of their services I refer to the reports of Generals Webb and Carroll. No
report has been received from General Owen.
The country in which the battle was fought was
almost an impenetrable thicket through which it was impossible to see for more than a few
yards. The weather being very dry and hot, the woods soon took fire, and many of our poor
wounded were burned to death. In the afternoon the enemy made a furious attack upon us,
and judging from the firing that he had broken through our line, I sent Brooke's brigade,
of the First Division, through the burning wood toward the point of attack. This fine
brigade with its gallant commander marched through in line of battle, and arrived in time
to reassure our exhausted troops, which had, with the assistance of Carroll's brigade,
repulsed the attack. On the 7th, the division was not engaged except by skirmishers, and
that night, or rather about daylight on the 8th, we took up the march for Todd's Tavern.
In the battle of the Wilderness the division lost heavily both in officers and men. The
gallant Colonel (now Brigadier-General) Carroll was wounded in the arm, but still kept the
field. Colonel Macy, Twentieth Massachusetts, who had just rejoined his regiment, was
wounded, and Maj. H. L. Abbott, of the same regiment, after earning for himself the
highest reputation as a soldier, fell mortally wounded while gallantly fighting with his
regiment, besides many others whose names cannot be more particularly mentioned in
consequence of the absence of brigade and regimental reports. Very little artillery was
used in consequence of the nature of the country.

SPOTSYLVANIA COURT-HOUSE.--MAY 8 TO MAY
20.

The division reached the vicinity of
Spotsylvania Court-House in the afternoon, bivouacking for the night on the road in rear
of the Fifth and Sixth Corps. The next morning it was first placed in position, faced to
the rear, and afterward marched up and took position faced to the Po River, to the rear of
the right flank of the Fifth Corps. Just before dark it crossed the Po, and the next
morning, the 10th, recrossed the river to support the Fifth Corps, engaged in making an
attack on the enemy's intrenched position. Here Webb's and Carroll's brigades were placed
in line, Owen's being held in reserve. Webb's and Carroll's brigades made two ineffectual
assaults on the enemy's works, the first under orders from Major-General Warren, the
second, later in the afternoon, under orders from Major-General Hancock. The position
occupied by these troops was in a dense wood, filled with dead cedar trees, whose hard dry
branches, projecting like so many bayonets from the stem, rendered the movement of a line
of battle in any sort of order utterly impracticable. The only result of the two assaults
was to kill and wound a large number of men, many of whom were burnt to death by the
fierce conflagration which raged iii the dry timber. The brigades, however, held their
original positions until the next night, when they were withdrawn and marched during the
night to the left of the army, when the <ar67_431> division took up position in two
lines in rear of the First and Third Divisions, Owen's and Carroll's brigades being in the
front line, Webb's in the second.
May 12, shortly after daylight our troops moved
to the assault. Owen's and Carroll's brigades were almost immediately started in support,
and arrived in time to aid in carrying the enemy's works. Webb was soon after ordered up,
and while rapidly moving forward on to the enemy's second line, the gallant general was
severely wounded and left the field. I beg leave to call special attention to the officers
mentioned for gallant services by Generals Webb and Carroll. I personally remarked the
gallant conduct of Captain Butterfield, Eighth Ohio, of General Carroll s staff, in
turning the enemy's guns and serving them against him. We held the line we had gained, and
the next day, while intrepidly exposing himself during a reconnaissance, General Carroll,
now suffering severely from the wound in his right arm, received in the Wilderness, had
his left arm shattered by a rifle bullet and was carried from the field. His conspicuous
daring during the campaign had been most marked, and the loss of two such brigade
commanders as himself and General Webb was a severe blow to the division. During the 13th
and 14th more or less skirmishing was going on all the time, and the troops were engaged
in securing the trophies, burying the dead. &c.; and orders were given for an assault
to take place at daylight, on the 15th, but subsequently countermanded, and the division
was moved to the left and in the afternoon moved back again to protect the right flank of
the army from a threatened attack. On the 16th the division was moved several miles to the
right for the purpose of bringing in some 600 or 700 of our wounded lying in temporary
hospitals, which was effected without interruption from the enemy.
At daylight on the 18th the division was in
position at the breastworks taken on the 12th, ready for another assault on the enemy's
interior line. The Corcoran Legion, Col. Mathew Murphy, Sixty-ninth Regiment New York
National Guard Artillery, commanding, had the day before joined the army and been assigned
to my division as the Fourth Brigade, and Col. Thomas A. Smyth, First Delaware Volunteers,
and Col. H. B. McKeen, Eighty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, reported to me for duty, and
were assigned to the command of the Third and First Brigades, respectively. The division
was formed in two lines, the first line composed of McKeen's and Murphy's brigades (First
and Fourth) in line of battle connecting with Barlow's division on the left, and the Sixth
Corps on the right, and supported by the second line. Owen's and Smyth's brigades (Second
and Third) formed in line of battalions en masse. Directly in front of the center
of my line was a thick, heavy wood, which prevented any considerable portion of the
division from being seen from any one point. The troops moved to the assault at 4.30 a.m.,
and gallantly carried some of the enemy's works in their front, when the second line was
ordered forward in support. We soon, however, came upon the enemy's main line of works,
well manned both with, infantry and artillery, and protected in front with abatis, from
which the fire was so heavy that the troops made no headway against it, and were forced to
retire. During the action Major Mitchell, of General Hancock's staff, informed me that
Brigadier-General Owen's brigade instead of moving forward as directed in support of the
first line, had fallen back into a line of works into its rear. An investigation into the
facts proved the correctness of the report. The brigade had not at all supported the
attack made by the front line. We lost heavily in this attack, mostly from McKeen's and
Murphy's brigades, Colonel Murphy himself being wounded. After night we withdrew from the
position, moved to the left in the vicinity of Anderson's Mill, where we remained massed
in reserve until the night of the 20th, when the corps marched via Bowling Green and
Milford Station to a position across the Mattapony, where it intrenched and remained until
the morning of the 23d, when we resumed the march, and reaching the North Anna River, took
up a position on the left of Birney's division, the enemy opening on us from his batteries
on the south side of the river.

THE NORTH ANNA, FROM MAY 23 TO MAY 27.

The bridge head at the river was
assaulted and carried by Birney's division at 6 p.m., batteries being placed in position
along my line to reply to the enemy's fire. The next morning a foot bridge was
constructed, across which my line of skirmishers was pushed, and soon afterward occupied
the enemy's deserted line of works. Smyth's brigade was then crossed on a pontoon bridge,
followed immediately by the whole division. Smyth was pushed forward in line of battle,
supported by a portion of McKeen's and afterward by Owen's brigade. The Fourth Brigade,
now under command of Col. J.P. McIvor, One hundred and seventieth New York Volunteers,
formed a second line. Smyth advanced, carried a line of the enemy's works, and afterward
was furiously assaulted, but with the assistance of the troops sent him from the other
brigades (the Sixty-ninth and One hundred and seventieth New York, Sixty-ninth
Pennsylvania, and Fifteenth and Nineteenth Massachusetts), held his line in the midst of a
furious rain storm. Smyth was afterward re-enforced by the rest of McKeen's brigade, and
the battle continued until after dark with no change in the relative positions of the
troops. No fighting except skirmishing occurred on my front during the 25th and 26th, and
that night we withdrew to the north bank of the Anna, the last of the division crossing
about 1 a.m. On the 27th we commenced the march for the Pamunkey, which we reached and
crossed the next day near Hanovertown, taking up position on the left of the Sixth Corps.

TOTOPOTOMOY AND COLD HARBOR, FROM MAY 28
TO JUNE 12.

The 28th and 29th the division
was in position at the crossing of the Pamunkey. On the 29th Brig. Gen. R. O. Tyler, U. S.
Volunteers, reported to me for duty and was assigned to the command of the Fourth Brigade,
now increased by the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, Col. P. A. Porter. On the 30th the
division moved out and took up position on Totopotomoy Creek, driving in the enemy's
skirmishers, and the next day a farther advance was made, the First, Second, and Third
Brigades being thrown across the creek and the Fourth held in reserve. Constant
skirmishing and cannonading was going on in our front, where the enemy's position was
developed until the night of the 1st of June, when the division was withdrawn and reached
Cold Harbor the next morning at 6 o'clock, taking position on the left of the Sixth Corps.
June 3, the division was directed to be in
readiness to move to the assault of the enemy's works at 4.30 a.m. Tyler's and Smyth's
brigades, the First on the right, the Second on the left, were ordered to move forward in
line of battle at the given signal, followed by McKeen's on the right and Owen's on the
left, formed in close column of regiments. Tyler and Smyth were already in position and
McKeen and Owen were ordered to be in position before daylight the next morning to follow
promptly the movement of the front line. The latter had orders to push rapidly forward and
over the front line in column and effect a lodgment, if possible, on the enemy's works,
and not to deploy till they got there. At daylight I rode to the line and found Owen's
brigade not even under arms, and, of course, not in the advanced position I had assigned
it the day before. As soon as it was put in position the signal was given and the troops
moved to the attack. The country was rolling, in places intersected by ravines and
marches, and my line was cut in two by a deep, impassable swamp, which widened as we
advanced toward the enemy. The troops pushed gallantly forward under a most terrific fire
of cannon and musketry until close up to the enemy's works. General Tyler fell severely
wounded early in the action, but his troops pushed on, followed on the right by McKeen,
who, following his orders, struggled against the heavy fire of the enemy until himself and
many of his gallant command lay dead upon the field, and his ranks were much thinned and
scattered. The gallant Haskell succeeded to the command, and was almost immediately
carried from the field mortally wounded in a second attempt to rush upon the enemy's
works. On the left, and separated from his brigade by the swamp, the heroic Colonel
McMahon, with a portion of his regiment, One hundred and sixty-fourth New York, gained the
breastwork, and, while alongside of his colors cheering on his men, fell covered with
wounds, and expired in the enemy's hands, they capturing also his colors and the men with
it. A portion of the Third Brigade also gained the enemy's works, but being unsupported
were unable to hold them. General Owen, instead of pushing forward in column through
Smyth's line, deployed on his left as soon as the latter became fully engaged, and thus
lost the opportunity of having his brigade well in hand and ready to support the lodgment
made by Smyth and McMahon. In this bloody assault the division lost many valuable officers
and men. The gallant Colonel Porter, Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, fell only a few
yards from the enemy's works, surrounded by the dead of his regiment, which, although new
to the work, fought like veterans. The loss of such officers as McKeen and Haskell cannot
be overestimated. Captain Palmer, Nineteenth Massachusetts, division ordnance officer, had
his horse shot under him, and was himself slightly wounded by a bullet while gallantly
carrying an order for me. The next day Captain Wheelock, Fifteenth Massachusetts, chief of
pioneers, was slightly wounded while performing the same duty on the right of the line.
Where the ground was open some portions of the First and Fourth Brigades got so far
forward and were subjected to such a close fire that the only way they succeeded in
extricating themselves was to take advantage of the inequalities of the ground and
construct covered ways, working mostly at night. The wounded could be recovered and the
dead buried only by means of a flag of truce, arrangements for which were made four days
afterward. The division lost in this assault 65 officers and 1,032 men killed and wounded.
From the 3d to the 12th the division was
occupied in perfecting its position and pushing forward works toward the enemy constantly
under fire, both cannon and musketry, day and night, and losing some 280 officers and men
killed and wounded. During these twelve days the labor and military duty of the division
were of the hardest kind and performed under the most disadvantageous
circumstances-confined for ten days in narrow trenches with no water to wash with and none
to drink except that obtained at the risk of losing life. Unable to obey a call of nature
or to stand erect without forming targets for hostile bullets, and subjected to the heat
and dust of midsummer, which soon produced sickness and vermin, the position was indeed a
trying one, but all bore it cheerfully and contentedly, constructed covered ways down to
the water and to the rear, and joked of the hostile bullets as they whistled over their
heads to find perhaps a less protected target far in the rear of the lines. I regard this
as having been the most trying period of this most trying campaign.

CONCLUSION.

To give some idea in regard to the losses and services of the division during
this eventful campaign it becomes necessary to refer to certain facts:

The division left camp May 3 with
three brigades, numbering in the aggregate 6,799. At Spotsylvania Court-House, May 16, it
was joined by the Corcoran Legion, 1,521, and the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Volunteers, Col.
F. A. Haskell, 765: on the next day by the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, Col. P. A.
Porter, 1,654, and during first two weeks in June was further increased by 323. Total,
11,062.
Its losses up to July 30 were: Killed, 77
officers and 971 men; total, 1,048. Wounded, 202 officers and 3,825 men; total. 4,027.
Total, 5,075, or 46 per cent. of the whole strength in killed and wounded alone. The
Corcoran Legion and Eighth New York Heavy Artillery were formed into a fourth brigade. The
brigades have had 17 different commanders, of whom 3 have been killed and 6 wounded. Of
the 279 officers killed and wounded 40 were regimental commanders. Of course, the bravest
and most efficient officers and men were those who fell; it is always so. These facts
serve to demonstrate the wear and tear on the division, and to show why it is that the
troops, which at the commencement of the campaign were equal to almost any undertaking,
became toward the end of it unfit for almost any. The effect upon the troops of the loss
of such leaders as Tyler, Webb, Carroll, Baxter, Connor, McKeen, Ramsey, Blaisdell, Coons,
Haskell, Porter, Murphy, McMahon, Macy, Curry, Pierce, Abbott, Davis, Curtis, and a host
of others, can be truly estimated only by one who has witnessed their conduct in the
different battles. This report, written in the midst of active operations, is scarcely
more than a general sketch, and must necessarily be very defective from the absence of so
many sub-reports and the loss of so many commanders whose information would have served as
a guide in awarding credit by special mention to many gallant officers and men, both of
those who fell and those who have survived through this eventful and unexampled campaign.
All the sub-reports received are inclosed herewith.

I have to thank the members of my
staff for uniform and energetic attention to their duties, and gallant conduct in
conveying orders on the field. They are Maj. J. M. Norvell, assistant adjutant-general;
Capt. A. H. Embler, Eighty-second New York Volunteers, assistant commissary of musters and
aide-de-camp; Capt. W. L. Palmer, Nineteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, ordnance officer
(wounded); Capt. J. C. Lynch, One hundred and sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, assistant
inspector-general; Capt. William R. Wheelock, Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, chief of
pioneers (wounded); Capt. William P. Seville, First Delaware Volunteers, assistant
topographical engineer; Capt W Gale, Fifteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, judge-advocate;
Lieut. Edward Moale, Nineteenth U.S. Infantry, aide-de-camp. If there is any one
preeminently entitled to special mention it is Captain Embler, Eighty-second New York, who
has repeatedly demonstrated his gallantry and soldierly conduct on the field, and as
repeatedly been recommended for promotion, but without effect. Surg. J. F. Dyer,
Nineteenth Massachusetts Volunteers, medical director of the division; Capt. G. A.
Shallenberger, assistant quartermaster, and Capt T. S. Crombargar, commissary of
subsistence, were unremitting in their attention to the duties of their several positions,
and the sick, wounded and well wanted for nothing which their zeal and energy could
supply. Capt. M. Black, Second Company Minnesota Sharpshooters, provost-marshal, was
untiring in the duties of his office on the march and in camp, as well as on the field,
where his command lost heavily.